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June 2, 2021

42nd Parliament, 1st Session

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Hansard Transcripts

vol. A

Hansard Transcripts

vol. B

Votes and Proceedings

Orders and Notices

Hansard Transcript 2021-Jun-02 vol. A (PDF)

L270A - Wed 2 Jun 2021 / Mer 2 jun 2021

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

ASSEMBLÉE LÉGISLATIVE DE L’ONTARIO

Wednesday 2 June 2021 Mercredi 2 juin 2021

Orders of the Day

Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance du personnel des services de première ligne et des services essentiels

Members’ Statements

Saúl Arias López

Métis Nation of Ontario Legacy Preservation Project / Projet de préservation de l’héritage de la Nation métisse de l’Ontario

Health care funding

Pride Month / National Indigenous History Month

York South–Weston youth council

COVID-19 response

Border security

Education

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Gas theft

Members’ expenditures

Sikh genocide

Question Period

Education

Education

Education

Road safety

Indigenous programs and services

Education funding

Border security

Arts and cultural funding

Addiction services

Energy rates

Arts and culture sector

Highway construction

Child care

COVID-19 response

Deferred Votes

Building Opportunities in the Skilled Trades Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 ouvrant des perspectives dans les métiers spécialisés

Sign-language

interpretation

Reports by Committees

Select Committee on Emergency Management Oversight

Select Committee on Emergency Management Oversight

Introduction of Bills

Making the Patient Ombudsman an Officer of the Assembly Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 visant à rendre l’ombudsman des patients un haut fonctionnaire de l’Assemblée

Clean Trains Now Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur l’introduction de trains à énergie propre maintenant

Harvey and Gurvir’s Law (Providing Information about Down Syndrome to Expectant Parents, Regulated Health Professionals and the Public), 2021 / Loi de 2021 de Harvey et de Gurvir (fourniture de renseignements concernant la trisomie 21 aux futurs parents, aux professionnels de la santé réglementés et au public)

Statements by the Ministry and Responses

Seniors’ Month

Petitions

Optometry services

Places of religious worship

Employment standards

Affordable housing

Autism treatment

Autism treatment

Trucking industry

Orders of the Day

Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur le soutien à la relance et à la compétitivité

Request to the Integrity Commissioner

Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur le soutien à la relance et à la compétitivité

The House met at 0900.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Good morning. Let us pray.

Prayers.

Orders of the Day

Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week Act, 2021 / Loi de 2021 sur la Semaine de reconnaissance du personnel des services de première ligne et des services essentiels

Mr. Rasheed moved third reading of the following bill:

Bill 230,

An Act to proclaim Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week / Projet de loi 230, Loi proclamant la Semaine de reconnaissance du personnel des services de première ligne et des services essentiels.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’ll look to the member for Mississauga East–Cooksville to lead off the debate.

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: Good morning to all. Speaker, I’m honoured and so very thankful to rise this morning and speak in detail about Bill 230, the Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week Act. If passed, this proposed legislation will proclaim the third week of March of every year as Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week. The week will acknowledge the contributions of the various industries that make up Ontario’s essential workforce.

At its heart, Bill 230 is all about gratitude. As we all know, on March 17, 2020, an emergency was declared in Ontario under the Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The second and third emergencies were declared on January 12, 2021, and April 7, 2021. Without question, Ontario’s front-line and essential service workers played a vital role in maintaining the flow and delivery of goods and services throughout each state of emergency, and they continue to be a crucial part of the province’s economic recovery.

Speaker, the last 15 months have been a roller coaster for everyone in this province. Everyone worked hard to stay home, stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep one another safe. But none of that would have been possible without the hard work, diligence and dedication of Ontario’s front-line and essential service workers. Ontario is thankful, and I think it is very important to have legislation that puts in writing, for all time, that we appreciate and celebrate our front-line and essential service workers in this great province, taking a week to acknowledge and celebrate all the individuals and industries that made surviving and recovering from this pandemic possible for all of us.

I want to thank Ontario’s front-line and essential service workers, who have been performing above and beyond through the three waves of COVID-19. Whether at your local grocery store, your community pharmacy or hospital, these unwavering individuals have been dedicated to ensuring our province gets the health care and supplies we all need to survive in these difficult times.

Thank you to food service individuals, who pivoted their production to provide curbside and delivery meals, and all those in the restaurant industry who were able to provide meals to our front-line and essential workers as well as others in need.

Speaker, thank you also to those industries that were able to import or produce PPE to bolster our provincial supply. Your work has been incredible.

Thank you to the long-term-care staff and the Canadian Armed Forces, who undertook the critical task of supporting facilities that were struggling with outbreaks of COVID-19.

Thank you to all Ontarians who, with the use of PPE and social distancing, took

part in peaceful protests against racism in Toronto this past weekend.

I want to thank our trucking and freight industry for all they do to keep goods moving around Ontario.

I want to also thank you, Speaker, and all our esteemed colleagues gathered here today, along with the OLA staff, security and everyone who worked so hard so that the gears of this government could remain in motion throughout the darkest days of this crisis.

Speaker, on the front lines of our health care system, our nursing professionals have been the backbone of delivering care to those in need. I also want to say a special thanks to my colleague from Mississauga Centre who has done an incredible job by not only coming to this Legislature but also working on the front lines. Thank you so much for all the great work. We appreciate that.

Speaker, Dana Cooper, the executive director of the Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario, had this to say about Bill 230: “The Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario is pleased to support Bill 230 sponsored by MPP Rasheed, that would recognize ‘Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week.’ Nurse Practitioners have been on the front lines of the pandemic across all corners of health care and have stepped up to ensure that the health care resources required by the people of Ontario are available.

NPAO salutes all of the front-line and essential workers that risked their, and their families’, well-being to provide for the needs of Ontarians during this very challenging time. It is appropriate to recognize their efforts.”

Speaker, our front-line responders in the pandemic were also glad to be acknowledged. Darryl Wilton, president of the Ontario Paramedic Association, said, “The Ontario Paramedic Association supports private member’s Bill 230 to recognize front-line and essential workers. We know first-hand that many occupations have enabled paramedics to provide life-saving medical and trauma care to 1.75 million patients throughout Ontario each year.

Paramedics are humbled by MPP Kaleed Rasheed’s bill and appreciative of all the Ontarians who have come together to support our members on the front lines by providing us with the medications, equipment and services we also need. It has been magnificent to see so many essential workers come together so that paramedics can continue to provide high-quality care on 911 emergency calls and with our community paramedics stationed at COVID testing sites and in long-term-care facilities. Thank you Ontario for helping us help you.”

The pandemic provided new and unprecedented challenges to our police and fire services as well. Bruce Chapman, the president of the Police Association of Ontario says: The PAO, “on behalf of our 46 member associations and 18,000 ... civilian police personnel across the province, fully supports Bill 230, which seeks to proclaim the third week of March as Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week.

Such an annual gesture will serve to thank, honour and support all front line and essential service workers—those in health and long-term care, emergency and first response, supply chain distribution and many other sectors—who have selflessly made, and continue to make, invaluable contributions to keep Ontarians healthy and safe during the worst global health crisis we’ve experienced in the past century.”

Carmen Santoro, president of the Ontario Professional Fire Fighters Association, also said, “Ontario’s professional firefighters have responded to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic by doing what we always do, which is to work as safely and effectively as possible to keep our fellow citizens safe. On behalf of our 11,000 members on the front lines, I’m honoured to voice my support for Bill 230 and I thank MPP Rasheed for this recognition.”

Speaker, before I close my remarks for this morning, I just want to share a very personal story here. As you all know, I became a father to Sofiya’s and my fifth kid not too long ago; this was back in February. Right after our son Hamzah was born—and I think have shared this story here many times—we found out, two days later, that he was born with a heart condition. I think it’s any parent’s worst nightmare when you come to know that your newborn is born with a heart condition or any medical condition.

I remember reaching out to my colleague from Mississauga Centre right away. I asked her: “This is the situation. What can be done?” Sofiya and I really appreciated her support and guidance throughout this process, but also, I want to thank the doctors and the entire team at Toronto’s SickKids hospital, and also the Trillium Health Partners Mississauga site for being there for us and giving us comfort. Hamzah went through a surgery, and now he’s recovering.

I just cannot thank them enough for the support they gave us, our incredible doctors and nurses in our health care system. They’re not only doctors and nurses, but they are also human beings who understand what other human beings are going through. I really, really appreciate them, and on behalf of my family, I just want to say thank you. Thank you for helping us go through that time that I do not wish upon anyone. Thank you so much for that.

Speaker, the people on the front lines and essential service workers are proud of what they have accomplished, and their efforts and dedication are worthy and deserving of acknowledgement and celebration. I hope everyone in this House agrees with me that Bill 230 is not about politics. I just want to say that Bill 230 is not about politics; it is about saying thank you. Thank you so much. I really appreciate all the great work that our front-line and essential service workers are doing, not only during this pandemic, but pre-pandemic and post-pandemic. Thank you so much, on behalf of the government of Ontario and all my colleagues here. A big thank you to all.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I’d like to thank the member from Mississauga East–Cooksville.

Further debate?

Mrs. Lisa Gretzky: It is my pleasure to rise to speak to Bill 230, the Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week Act. I think we could all agree that our front-line and essential workers have gone above and beyond during this pandemic. Many of them are burnt out and are needing a break and some support, so I don’t think that any of us would oppose a bill that marks the accomplishments of and recognizes our front-line and essential workers.

I know the member from Mississauga East–Cooksville said that this bill was about gratitude, that it’s not political, that it’s about showing respect to these workers and showing gratitude to these workers. But, Speaker, it is political. For these workers, it is political.

We have front-line nurses who are leaving the field because they are burnt out, because they are working short-shifted every shift. They’re not getting breaks; they don’t get time to go to the bathroom. They don’t get time to go to the bathroom. They don’t have paid sick days. When they do need a break, or if they need to stay home with their kids who are sick, or if they themselves are sick, they don’t have paid sick days. If we want to be showing gratitude, it has to go well beyond a week of saying, “Yay, you.” There have to be concrete actions behind that.

The member from Mississauga East–Cooksville mentioned those within the long-term-care sector. I would say the same for them. Give those workers stable jobs. Ensure they have full-time hours that they can rely on, that they don’t have to go from one workplace to another to another to cobble together just enough money to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table for their children. This is what they’ve been asking for. These front-line essential workers have been saying, “If you want to show your gratitude for what we’re doing and recognize us, then step up and do these things.”

Because without actions, these words are empty and these days are empty. We can have a day where we’re saying thank you to them and saying, “You’re all fantastic,” but they’re out there doing the work and feeling like nobody cares because they don’t have what they need. They don’t have those full-time hours. They’re continuing to work short-shifted. They’re continuing to have to cobble together an income by working several jobs. I think it’s a pretty simple ask from them to us to ensure that that happens.

On this side of the House, there have been numerous, numerous bills that have been introduced, legislation that would ensure we aren’t just saying thank you to them and giving them a recognition week, but that there are those concrete actions in place that actually would show how appreciative all of us are.

My colleague from London West—and this bill has been tabled numerous times. I hear this rhetoric from the other side all the time, that we haven’t done anything in years. This bill has been tabled numerous times over the last decade or so by my colleague from London–Fanshawe. Our leader of the official opposition has tabled this bill herself, and the member from Nickel Belt has tabled this bill numerous times through Liberal and Conservative governments: the Time to Care Act.

That would actually show appreciation for those front-line workers in long-term care, because it would ensure that staffing levels are at a level where these workers aren’t being run off their feet, where they’re able to provide the care they need to and that they so desperately want to provide to individuals living in long-term care. But this government didn’t support it and instead brought in something that is a stretch goal, really—something that the Liberals like to do.

The member from Sudbury brought in a bill that would ensure the wage floor for PSWs is raised and that those PSWs would have a permanent pay increase. This government didn’t support that.

My colleague from Hamilton Mountain tabled a bill about presumptive WSIB to ensure that these front-line workers, who have gone through and seen terrible things—things that those of us in this House will never experience, and it’s happened to them time and time and time again throughout this pandemic. That legislation would have made sure that when those front-line workers have to go see someone and get professional help for their PTSD or for their burnout, it would automatically be covered. This government has done nothing—nothing—with that.

My colleague from Niagara Falls introduced a bill around presumptive WSIB as well, so that if a front-line or essential worker gets COVID-19, it would be presumed that it was on the job, so that they wouldn’t have to fight WSIB. In many cases, as it is right now, at this moment, those front-line workers are being denied coverage. They’re saying, “Meh, you might have got it when you walked from your car into your house. Oh, wait a minute; you stopped at the store to buy milk on the way home. That’s probably where you got it. We don’t have to cover you.” But this government has done nothing with that bill.

While I support recognition days and recognition weeks, I implore the government to actually take concrete action to show that you appreciate these workers, to support these workers, because words are absolutely nothing to these workers without the action that needs to be taken.

The government had an opportunity. These front-line, essential workers are saying, “We need paid sick days.” It doesn’t matter whether they’re in health care or whether they’re working in a factory or a grocery store. It doesn’t matter what workplace they are in. If they are essential, front-line workers, they need paid sick days. This government didn’t support it.

My colleague from London West brought a bill forward, and the government voted against it, and then patted themselves on the back after they eliminated the only two paid sick days they had—this government eliminated that—and then patted themselves on the back after thousands of workers and workplaces across the province—look at what happened at Amazon workplaces. After thousands of workers got sick and some died, this government finally said, “Okay, we’re going to act like we’re heroes and pat ourselves on the back.

We’re going to give you three paid sick days.” And they want to say it’s more than that, but it’s a federal program. They’re taking credit for a federal program that also does not work for workers, and the workers are telling you that and they’re telling the federal government that. That’s a concrete action. Give them permanent paid sick days. That’s a way to show you appreciate those workers.

I hear from the nurses. I hear from ICU nurses and critical care nurses all the time what they’re going through right now. What they’re saying they need, loud and clear—they just said it last Friday; there was a huge rally. I don’t know if anybody from the government side tuned in to join that rally or listened to what they were saying. The message was very loud and clear: “We don’t need empty words. We need your support.”

With that, Speaker, again, I will implore this government to give these workers what it is they are asking for. The one final ask—and that’s something they could do today, before this House rises for the summer on Thursday. Do it. The one message they sent loud and clear is to repeal Bill 124, because you cannot stand here and say that you support these workers and you appreciate these workers—the vast majority of them are women and racialized women—and then say, “But we’re going to suppress your wages and we’re going to trample on your collective bargaining rights.” You can’t do that.

Those of us on this side of the House don’t buy that narrative, and these front-line workers don’t buy that narrative either. As they really importantly pointed out, the workers who are disproportionately impacted by that wage suppression bill are women. And yet in male-dominated professions, they haven’t been affected by this—not at all. In fact, they’ve seen their wages go up.

So, I want the government side to actually think about how to put action behind their words and to do it quickly, because we are losing these front-line workers. We are starting to see these front-line workers leaving their fields because they just can’t do it anymore, without us behind them, putting that action behind our words.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate?

Mr. Faisal Hassan: I rise this morning to speak to the bill before us, Bill 230, Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week Act. Front-line and essential workers are retail workers, grocery staff, truck drivers, health care workers, transit drivers and educators, just to name a few. These are the folks that deserve so much thanks and praise for essentially keeping our province operating during the COVID pandemic. The Premier has called these workers champions and heroes, and they are—really, really, they are. Truly, they are.

Do they deserve a week recognizing their selfless efforts and the personal risks they took to their own health along with their families’ health? Absolutely, 100%. Of course front-line workers deserve recognition, and the official opposition has stood in this House for months and months asking for their recognition in the form of paid sick days, full-time work with benefits, WSIB coverage, proper wages and the ability to bargain without a Ford-government-imposed wage freeze.

We want to recognize essential workers by providing the PPE, safety and health concerns needed as they have put themselves at personal risk. This bill mentions none of those things. It does declare a week to acknowledge the work they continue to do, and I am all for that. But, Mr. Speaker, who would not support that kind of recognition for the very folks who have kept Ontario moving during the pandemic, who have contributed enormously to our economy in a difficult time?

Of course, I can stand and say, “Give them that recognition.” However, gestures are all well and good, but this government has failed at every step in our COVID recovery strategy. They routinely reject our bills and motions calling for tangible methods to actually provide essential and front-line workers with the assistance they need. Mr. Speaker, this government seems to be badly out of touch with those champions, heroes they speak about and are apparently clueless on how their day-to-day lives really are.

Let me paint the picture for them of an average PSW essential worker, a front-line worker, in York South–Weston. This average worker works in long-term care as a PSW and earns around just over $17. This is part-time employment with no benefits, and the person is often female, racialized and living in crowded conditions due to affordability of housing. They work two part-time jobs in two different workplaces to get close to full-time hours. Travelling to these workplaces on overcrowded buses and often having to make more than one connection is the reality of their very long day.

Then they arrive for work in a for-profit long-term care that is drastically understaffed and they do the very best they can. On average, the ratio is 30 residents per home and four PSWs to provide care.

They return to their families physically and emotionally exhausted, day after day after day. And in York South–Weston, a designated hot spot with a high risk of transmission, they have spent the past 15 months dealing with, initially, no permanent COVID testing facilities and now no permanent vaccine facilities. This is the essential worker’s reality in our community of York South–Weston. So when I see a bill such as this declaring a week to tip our hat to them, I know full well we can do so much more.

Just this week, the government passed a bill regulating PSWs. The government stated time and again that this is what PSWs told them they needed. Well, Mr. Speaker, does the government in their heart really believe that the typical PSW whose life experience I described, when asked, is saying the biggest help they could get is to be regulated and to be given a week of recognition? Clearly not; they need real paid sick days. They need pandemic pay for every essential worker, retroactive to the beginning of the pandemic. An immediate $5-an-hour raise is needed for PSWs, and full-time jobs instead of part-time with no benefits.

These essential workers had to fight for access to proper PPE during the pandemic. Mr. Speaker, this government can do so much more to honour and acknowledge the work of essential employees.

Time and again, the government has fallen short. Their reaction to the pandemic has always been weeks behind, a day late and a dollar short. The pandemic has been a difficult struggle, and it has devastated communities. I believe history will not be kind to this government when they see the inaction and outright neglect in how it has dealt with and strategized on our COVID response.

This last week, as the government recesses for the summer, they leave not with a bang but with a whimper, as regulating PSWs and declaring essential worker week is the best they can offer to the decent, hard-working essential workers and front-line heroes and champions.

So much more could have been done, but the suggestions of the official opposition were dismissed, unions and community organizations were not listened to and the government’s own science table was ignored. Families in Ontario see this, Mr. Speaker, and the government will have to live with the regrettable and unfortunate decisions they have made during this pandemic.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate?

Miss Monique Taylor: I’m proud to be able to stand to support this bill today,

An Act to proclaim Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week. I think Bill 230 is a good bill. There’s nothing wrong with this bill. We will definitely be supporting this bill.

As you know, the last few months of this session, or the last 15 months of this pandemic—forever—New Democrats have been supporting workers in this province, fighting for better rights for workers, trying to ensure that when a worker goes to work, they come home healthy. These are the types of things that New Democrats do. This is what we’ve always done.

My problem with this bill is that there’s no meat to it. It proclaims a week. It allows us to celebrate those essential workers. It allows them to give themselves a pat on the back and know that there is something for them. The problem, like I said, is that the meat part of it is, what are we doing to actually support these workers? What will this bill do to make the life of an essential worker better? When I look at this bill, I find nothing. There’s nothing there.

We’re going to be able to send them some flowers, hang some balloons, put up a banner saying it’s essential workers’ week, but they still won’t have the paid sick days they need. They won’t have the mental health supports they need. They won’t have the proper pay they need and deserve. They won’t have the proper supports at work that they need to be able to do this hard work. None of that is included in this bill—none of it.

I mean, we have put forward so many ideas, which my colleague from Windsor West has talked about, to be able to ensure that workers have those paid sick days. I believe we voted on paid sick days probably 25 times in this House in the last couple of months, and each time the government voted it down. Then they came out with their own paid sick days that actually counteract the federal paid sick days. If a low-income worker needs to be able to access those three paid sick days, they are then not eligible for the federal government’s week of paid sick days, so it counteracts.

That bill was written on the fly. It took over a year for the government to deal with these paid sick days. Everybody in the province was begging the government to provide paid sick days to front-line workers to ensure that we could keep COVID-19 out of the workplace, which we know has been one of the greatest spreaders throughout this pandemic. They threw together a bill at the last minute that counteracted the federal one.

Instead of the three weeks they would have received through the federal, they’ll now get three days of the provincial and lose those other two days of the federal because they won’t qualify for that week now. These are the troubles that weren’t taken into consideration when the government put forward the “best paid sick day program ever.” The best paid sick day program left workers without two days of pay. It’s not exactly what our essential workers, who we want to celebrate, deserve.

I put forward a bill, Bill 267, on access to mental health supports for essential workers. That bill came directly from my riding. Through the pandemic, Grace Villa, which is a long-term-care facility in my riding, had one of the worst outbreaks. We lost 44 people; 88 staff and 167 residents were sick. It was absolutely horrific. Those workers sent me letters—handwritten letters they sent me, delivered them to my door—talking about the war zone, talking about the inability to care for the people who they had been caring for and loved and become family with, walking into rooms with no sheets on the bed.

There’s no more clean linen left, with management telling them, “Yes, there is,” and they’re like, “No, there’s not.” They’re ripping up bed sheets to be able to dress wounds and to be able to provide some kind of cleaning for them. This is how we treat our seniors. This is how we treat workers who are taking care of our seniors.

What those workers needed—and so many of them told me that they had PTSD, they had depression, they have anxiety and they don’t know how they’re going to manage to get through all of this and to continue to keep going and continue to provide that so desperately needed care for our seniors.

So we put forward a bill saying, “Okay, if you’ve got PTSD, if you have depression, through our presumptive legislation, through WSIB you can access mental health supports. We’ll give you the help to take care of you for taking care of us, for taking care of our parents, for taking care of our grandparents.” What does the government do? No. Vote it down. Vote it down. No mental health supports for front-line workers.

And it’s not just our long-term-care workers. Think about our grocery store workers; think about our retail workers. We have young people working in our grocery stores, and I stop in—I go to several grocery stores in my riding and I’m always asking them how they’re doing, how they’re feeling, telling them about the bill that I tried to put forward for them, and they tell me, “That would have done so good for me. I could really use that support. I don’t need a lot of time off work, but I need some support.” And they can’t access that. They can’t access it. But what they will have is they’ll have a week to celebrate them without giving them what they need. There’s something wrong there.

The member talks about it not being about politics. Everything that happens in our province stems from politics—everything. Every decision comes from politics. Someone who says that it’s not about politics who is actually a politician needs to step back and have a look at what exactly it is we’re supposed to be doing in this House.

We are sent here to serve the people of our communities and to ensure that the people of Ontario have the necessities they need to be able to go to work, to care for our seniors; that they have the ability to continue to stay in those grocery stores; that they have the ability to run a small business. But none of the measures that come from this government actually fulfill those needs, and then we talk about, “It’s not politics.”

It’s politics when the government House leader says to me, “Private members’ bills are free. My members are able to vote how they wish on private members’ bills.” Then I see the whip staff standing out in the hallway, taking notes, “Oh, no, don’t vote here; you vote over there.” That sounds like a whipped vote to me. That looks like whipped votes to me. The members don’t have the ability to vote on private members’ bills as they choose—

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: Point of order.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I recognize the member from Barrie–Innisfil on a point of order.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: I think the member is imputing motive here as to whether people are voting their conscience or not—

Miss Monique Taylor: Oh, sit down. Sit down.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: —so I just want to question that.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): I appreciate the point of order, and I will caution the member that we have the benefit of the doubt right now. But, again, please refrain from any other comments. I’ll give you an opportunity to recall that comment if you wish. Thank you.

Miss Monique Taylor: Thanks, Speaker. It’s unfortunate that I seem to have hit a nerve on the other side.

But what we’re talking about is the people who make our province work. It is the people who go to work each and every day to allow us the ability to have safe, healthy communities. That is what we’re sent here to do: to create safe, healthy communities. And when you cannot see past your own nose and your own political will to ensure that those same workers that don’t have mental health supports, that don’t have paid sick days, that don’t have proper working environments, that are sent to job after job after job, not paid for travel time, not able to provide the care that they need to provide to our seniors because they’re double-booked and because they’re backed up—then we have a problem.

So it’s just truly unfortunate that the government failed to provide so many bills that were put forward by New Democrats, private members’ bills that they should have had free votes for and didn’t, and that this is the bill that the essential workers will get at the end of the session of the Ontario Legislature for the spring session. This is what they get. They get a week, but they don’t get the supports they need to be able to function and to have healthy lives.

I will be supporting this bill, and each third week of March every year, I will put up my banners, I will show my support and I will wrap myself around our essential workers, as I would any other day. But I will also remind them that we care about them and that we will push for better and that we will ensure they have the necessities that they need to be able to provide the job that we need.

With that, I thank you for the time and the opportunity to be able to put a few thoughts on record today.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate? Further debate? I recognize the member from Niagara Falls.

Mr. Wayne Gates: I think I got in under the wire there, Mr. Speaker. I appreciate you for taking a few seconds to see this little guy over here.

I think it’s so important to get up and talk on this issue. I listened to my colleague in front of me talk about supporting the bill and for the week when we’re going to celebrate, when we’re all going to go and thank our essential workers. Because for the last 15 months, on this side of the House, we’ve been doing everything we can to make sure that all essential workers know how valuable they are to the overall health of our economy.

Yet when you take a look at what the Conservatives have done over the last 15 months, they rolled back the minimum wage—one of the first things that they did. When our essential workers needed pandemic pay at Zehrs, some of these places that have some of the richest corporations in the world, quite frankly—they stopped their pandemic pay.

We take a look at ONA: Just last week, on Friday, they had to have a Zoom meeting with thousands of people on it to talk about Bill 124 and the attack on collective bargaining. The one thing I don’t understand, quite frankly, is that inflation is running at 2.2% right now, yet this government, under Bill 124, which should be repealed, is capping wages at 1%. Is that how you thank essential workers?

And then, if you move into the long-term-care and retirement homes, quite frankly, when they needed this government to make sure that they all had PPE, they didn’t have it; when they needed to make sure that they had staffing to take care of our seniors in our long-term-care and retirement homes, it wasn’t there for them. So to bring up a week and how much we care about essential workers, you have to take a look at what you’ve done. And, yes, we’re going to celebrate them. I go up and thank essential workers every day, whether I go to my local corner store, I go to Shoppers, I go to the grocery store.

I’m a lot like my colleague from Hamilton: I go to a number of grocery stores and talk to the workers there. They don’t feel supported. They’re overworked, they’re understaffed and they’re underpaid. None of that was taken care of over the last 15 months. When they had the opportunity to do it, they chose not to.

I take a look at those PSWs. We just had a bill that we debated for hours that, quite frankly, wasn’t supported by the unions that represent those workers: Unifor, CUPE, ONA, SEIU. Do you know what those four unions have in common? Hopefully, my colleagues over there are listening. I see the minister is over there. Do you know what they all have in common? They’re fighting for their workers. But every one of those unions had a member of their union die during COVID-19. They died because they didn’t have proper PPE. They died because they didn’t have enough staffing.

And as hard as the union was fighting to get PPE for their members, as hard as they were fighting to get more staff in our long-term-care and our retirement homes, as hard as they were trying to make the government and the employers live up to their collective agreements, it never happened. And workers who were taking care of our loved ones died on the job with COVID-19. If we would have provided what they needed—the staffing, the PPE—those workers would be here with us today. Those families wouldn’t be suffering. Their kids wouldn’t be suffering. Their grandkids wouldn’t be suffering. That’s all we had to do.

My colleague again talked upon something that is very interesting to me. When you say you care about essential workers—and not just essential workers; I think we care for all our workers, quite frankly. She brought up about WSIB and presumptive language. We know, today, in our hospitals that 800 of our essential workers today are arguing with WSIB to get coverage, because they caught COVID-19 and they’ve got to argue to prove to WSIB—instead of supporting her bill, presumptive language. I’ve talked about WSIB here. Do you know how many people are on WSIB who are now being deemed, who are essential workers, who are now going to be forced to live in poverty?

That’s how you start thanking workers. That’s how you start thanking essential workers. You pay them properly. You make sure they have proper PPE. You make sure that you show respect. You talk to organizations like ONA and repeal Bill 124. That’s how you send a message of how much we care about them. None of that has been done by this government.

I had a question yesterday on deeming; they said no. My colleague had a question on presumptive language; they said no. Repeal Bill 124; they said no. They’re saying no to all our essential workers, yet we want to have a week. It reminds me a little bit about—and I’ll wrap this up because I only have five minutes. It reminds me a little bit about our health and safety week, when labour already had a day on April 28, our Day of Mourning, yet we have a week to celebrate health and safety, but we didn’t take care, by supporting my deeming bill, of those same workers who were getting injured and killed on the job.

So I’ll wrap up and say, yes, we’re going to support the bill, as my colleague has said. We’re going to continue to thank our essential workers—not just that week. We thank them every day. They’ve had it tough for the last 15 months. We’re going to continue to thank them and support this bill, but this government can do a lot more. I gave you five or six quick examples that they said no to, and essential workers will never forget.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate?

Mr. Kevin Yarde: It’s an honour to speak to this bill on Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week. Speaker, essential workers week is something which is dear to me as the representative for Brampton North. My city is full of front-line workers and essential workers. I want to acknowledge these heroes who are putting themselves in harm’s way to get us through this pandemic.

It’s sad to see that these front-line essential workers aren’t being treated like the heroes they are by this government. Our front-line workers still don’t have an adequate paid sick days program. Our health care workers are still lacking the resources they need, and they aren’t getting paid enough. We still don’t have this government’s commitment to another hospital in Brampton, and we had our local public health units pick up the slack of this government’s vaccine distribution.

This was unacceptable for a hot spot like Brampton, Mr. Speaker. As I mentioned, we are full of essential workers who needed to be vaccinated to keep our health care system and economy running, and to ensure we all have access to the essential goods and services.

In Brampton, we have seen more than 100 workplace outbreaks during this pandemic. Our workforce in Brampton is full of these many essential workers and front-line workers who still don’t have adequate paid sick days. I’m going to say this over and over again through this next five minutes: Three paid sick days are not enough. The government knows that, we know that, as well as the doctors’ association, the nurses’ association—even businesses know that three days is not enough.

Our workers need and deserve at least 14 paid sick days. Otherwise, our workers—we’ve seen it in Brampton and across the Peel region—are still having to go to work with a sniffle or a cough, because they don’t know if they have COVID or not and they know that they’re not going to get paid. That’s why they’re going to work sick, Mr. Speaker.

On top of that, Mr. Speaker, front-line workers had to wait too long to get vaccinated despite living and working in a hot spot with postal codes which were deemed hot spot zones in Brampton. When they rolled out the early vaccines, Brampton was not in the early pilot program. It makes no sense. It made no sense.

Interjection.

Mr. Kevin Yarde: The member from Mississauga—I’m not sure what he is saying, but he’s aware. He’s a Peel region representative and he knows that we should have been in this original rollout.

We also know, Mr. Speaker, that BIPOC communities are being disproportionately affected, impacted and infected by this virus. These BIPOC communities make up a large part of essential workers in Brampton and across the Peel region. We can see those effects in Brampton. We saw the virus impact us disproportionately. We are one of the hardest-hit cities, with our positivity rate climbing over 20% sometimes in the last month. It’s a horrifying statistic, especially when you listen to our medical officer of health, Dr. Lawrence Loh, who said one in five people in Brampton had COVID. So if you’re going to the store, all you had to do is just assume that the person next to you may have COVID.

These are essential workers who were not getting vaccinated, Mr. Speaker. So, the government wants to talk about having an essential and front-line worker day, but they have to provide the services, they have to put the money forward to make sure that these workers are protected.

In conclusion, Mr. Speaker, I want to talk about the fact that these illnesses in Brampton, the large numbers, could have been prevented if the government had invested in Brampton’s health care system. Brampton Civic has seen overcapacity since day one. Since the day it opened, it was overcapacity. However, the answer to that by this government is to build another hospital—but we all know it’s not an additional hospital; what it is, is an addition to Peel Memorial, and it doesn’t take effect until some time in 2023, after the next election. So it’s a promise which the people in Peel and Brampton know is a broken promise.

We need a third stand-alone hospital. We have over 600,000 people in Brampton, and our population is continuing to grow.

I’m hoping that this government will listen to our side and our stories and provide reliable, adequate health care, not just for Brampton but right across Ontario, if they are anywhere serious about dealing with this pandemic.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Further debate? Further debate?

Mr. Rasheed has moved third reading of Bill 230,

An Act to proclaim Front-line and Essential Service Worker Week.

Is it the pleasure of the House that the motion carry? Carried.

Be it resolved that this bill do now pass and be entitled as in the motion.

Third reading agreed to.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): Orders of the day? I recognize the member from Barrie–Innisfil.

Ms. Andrea Khanjin: No further business.

The Deputy Speaker (Mr. Rick Nicholls): There being no further business, this House stands recessed until 10:15.

The House recessed from 0956 to 1015.

Members’ Statements

Saúl Arias López

Ms. Jill Andrew: Saúl Arias López died by suicide at the age of 16 this year. He was a child in my community. He loved his family, his friends, guitar, books, dinosaurs, science club at the ROM, and he loved music. He earned his second-degree black belt by the time he was 12. He was happy.

At-home learning wore Saúl down. He began to fall academically in classes that he loved, and when he was in school, none of his friends were in his cohort. Isolation, loneliness, anxiety, loss of routine, missed milestones and a growing sense of doom and gloom captured him.

Our local hospitals have seen unprecedented spikes during the pandemic in kids’ mental health crises and attempts at self-harm. Sadly, some are successful. Government, listening to science, telling families the full story last year and delivering families a solid safe schools plan might have meant a different ending for Saúl this year.

I’m going to end with the lyrics from a song called Tears of a Clown, by Iron Maiden, one of Saúl’s favourite bands. The song was dedicated to renowned actor Robin Williams, and Saúl’s parents, Marcela and Saúl Sr., dedicated it to their son, their only child.

All looks well on the outside

Underneath the solemn truth

There’s something that inside has died

Tomorrow comes, tomorrow goes

But the cloud remains the same

Wonder why he’s feeling down

Tears of a clown

Marcela is watching this morning. Marcela, I’m very sorry for your loss.

Métis Nation of Ontario Legacy Preservation Project / Projet de préservation de l’héritage de la Nation métisse de l’Ontario

Ms. Natalia Kusendova: I’m thrilled to share with this House news of a major Métis project in North Bay: the Métis Nation of Ontario legacy preservation project. This project will create the first-ever Métis time capsule, preserving the Métis culture, history and way of life for generations to come.

Monsieur le Président, nos coeurs sont brisés avec la découverte tragique de 215 enfants qui reposent à l’ancien pensionnat autochtone de Kamloops la semaine dernière. Alors, les initiatives comme celle-ci sont encore plus importantes pour protéger et favoriser les cultures et les histoires indigènes.

La Nation métisse de l’Ontario a été formée en 1993 par le militant des droits des Métis et président fondateur Tony Belcourt, avec la vision d’avoir un organisme autonome pour réaliser une meilleure autodétermination pour les Métis de l’Ontario. Au cours de sa présidence, il a milité sans relâche pour faire avancer la reconnaissance des peuples métis et de leurs droits.

In 2008, the MNO-Ontario Framework Agreement was signed, recognizing the unique history and way of life for Métis people in Ontario. Since then, MNO has continued to advance Métis rights with government, including the historic 2019 signing of the self-governance agreement between Canada and MNO.

The ribbon-cutting ceremony for the time capsule will be November 16 of this year, which commemorates the annual recognition of Louis Riel Day. This gives us all an opportunity to learn more about the Métis community, culture and citizens. Merci. Thank you. Si kwaarayk. Marsi.

Health care funding

Mr. Wayne Gates: I rise today to discuss an ongoing issue facing our community in Niagara: MRI wait times.

For several years, we’ve been waiting for this government to ensure Niagara receives adequate funding to ensure the people in our community can receive an MRI in a reasonable timeframe. Under the previous government, we were successful in passing a motion, ultimately securing funding to drastically reduce the wait times. Unfortunately, Niagara is facing the same problem again.

Right now, only 6% of Niagara residents, as compared to 46% of Ontario residents, have received their MRI within the provincial current benchmark of 28 days. The current wait time for MRIs in Niagara is 255 days; the provincial average is 141. There are currently 5,000 Niagara residents waiting for MRIs at Niagara Health. Fortunately, through the hard work of the Niagara Health Foundation and the generous support of Tom Rankin of Rankin Construction, Niagara Health was able to secure a new MRI machine. This is wonderful news for our community and a further example of the community-minded nature of many Niagara businesses like Rankin.

While this is great news, we know that Niagara Health will need the necessary funding to ensure they can run 16 hours per day, seven days a week, to help ease the backlog of cases.

We are calling on this government to approve the request of annual funding, reduce our wait times and ensure that the people of Niagara have quality health care. No one in Niagara or anywhere in this province should be waiting 255 days for an MRI.

Pride Month / National Indigenous History Month

Ms. Jane McKenna: Speaker, in June, the northern hemisphere celebrates the summer solstice, the day with the most hours of light. The summer solstice serves as a reminder that we all have infinite opportunities every day to bring light into the lives of those around us.

In celebrating Pride Month and the vital role of 2SLGBTQ+ communities in our province, we can also reflect on our continued commitment and responsibility to create a more inclusive environment. When we hear about symbols of pride being stolen, vandalized or not being displayed, we know that we still have a long way to go.

June is also National Indigenous History Month, a time to honour and celebrate the traditions, heritage and culture of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples across Ontario and Canada. This year, as we reflect on the strength and resiliency of Canada’s Indigenous people, we also honour the 215 Indigenous children who lost their lives at the former residential school in Kamloops, BC.

Speaker, we can honour these children and their families by committing to the calls for action outlined in the 2015 report by the federal government’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission. And as Ontario’s Minister of Indigenous Affairs said earlier this week, we can also support the investigation of former residential school grounds here in Ontario.

June is a month of celebration and light and many opportunities to help make things so much better.

York South–Weston youth council

Mr. Faisal Hassan: I’m honoured today to rise and give voice to the York South–Weston youth council. These young leaders have been deeply engaged in amplifying the voices of youth in our community. The council has recently focused on education and mental health-related issues. The youth council is very concerned with youth unemployment and is calling on the renewal of the Canada Emergency Student Benefit. The council states:

“As summer inches closer and OSAP continues to primarily provide loans to students whose work opportunities continue to either be cancelled or are few in number due to lockdowns and public health measures.

“This lack of support has left many students having to choose between their education and their well-being.

“A renewal of the CESB program can support students during these extremely precarious times and could help prevent them from facing unstable housing, food insecurity and dropping out of education. The long-term costs related to these struggles will be much greater to our students, our community and to Canadian society.”

I thank the York South–Weston youth council for their continued hard work and input, and I encourage other members to form their own youth councils and help empower young people and amplify their voices.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Roman Baber: As we rise for the summer, I’d like to speak directly to Ontarians.

I know how hard it is for so many of you. With everyone’s mental health in peril and businesses closed, towns and cities are dying. I hear from so many of you and I feel you so much, so I invite you to think and focus for a minute.

In the dark days of fall and winter, we didn’t know what the world was going to look like. We couldn’t speak or express skepticism about what the government was doing or what the experts were saying on TV. We had so much fear about the future of our democracy.

But now our voices are heard loud and clear, and we are pushing back. We will not allow for our freedoms to be eroded and will peacefully defend our children, our lives and livelihoods, because we’re smarter and kinder.

The people who work in this chamber are afraid of you right now, because a year from now, if you choose so, you’ll get to fire all of them.

But here’s what’s important right now: It’s not just about coming out of lockdown; it’s the terms by which we come out of lockdown and open Ontario. The only terms acceptable are a complete return to normal. If other countries and provinces can do it, then so can we. We will not negotiate. We must demand that our way of life is restored in full.

They’re scrambling right now in this building because you already pushed them back. Now we must insist on how this ends. A full return to normal is non-negotiable, and so the future is bright because we’ll accept nothing less.

Border security

Mr. Kaleed Rasheed: For months now, Ontario has been calling on the federal government to secure our borders against emerging variants of concern. Our requests have fallen on deaf ears as the Prime Minister and his caucus refuse to acknowledge this serious matter. Earlier this week, the St. Catharines Standard reported, “Province-wide in recent days, the B1617 variant has been found in 322 cases, up from 45 a few weeks ago.”

Speaker, the B1617 variant is the one currently ravaging India, with tens of thousands dead and a health care system on the brink of collapse. Obviously, Speaker, these variants cannot swim, nor do they have wings to fly. The Prime Minister of Canada has failed this province and all Canadians by not securing our borders against these deadly variants of COVID-19. The last thing Ontario needs right now is a fourth wave to set back all the progress we all have made collectively this year. I encourage everyone to reach out to their federal representatives and call for securing our borders now, before it is too late.

Education

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: My child is in grade 1, but she essentially has missed grade 1, such an important year. The teachers have done an incredible job, and we as parents have done our best while juggling our own jobs, but it’s not the same. For such a formative year, it’s a huge loss with lasting impacts. So many parents feel the same way about their children. That’s what this past school year has been.

Now that we are near the end of the school year, all I am thinking is we cannot repeat this mess. We must get it right next school year. So things need to start now: the planning, the consultations, the upgrades to ventilation systems. Everything needs to happen now so that, come September, schools can reopen safely.

For the past year, this government has made announcements that give people zero information or clarity, or said one thing one day and the complete opposite the next—like right now. First you say schools will reopen before the economy, and now it’s reopen the economy before the schools, and yet we still don’t know what’s really on your mind.

This government seems to be unable to make decisions. Yes, decisions have consequences, but not making decisions also has consequences, and the consequences of your inability to lead and provide leadership have cost us not just in dollars, but in terms of people’s present and future.

The Conservatives love to brand themselves as the business people, executives making decisions effectively, efficiently. Well, judging by what’s going on right now, it’s clearly a myth. You have time now—three months, an entire quarter—until the next school year. So come quarter-end, you’d better have something to show for it or you will have missed your quarter, and when you miss again and again, you get fired.

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Mrs. Robin Martin: June is ALS Awareness Month in Canada. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, is a terminal disease of progressive paralysis that eventually leads to the loss of the ability to move, speak and breathe. This disease can move with startling swiftness: Four out of five people die within two to five years of their diagnosis.

Over time, as the brain’s connection with the muscles of the body breaks down, someone living with ALS will lose the ability to walk, talk, eat, swallow and eventually breathe. There is no cure for ALS and few treatment options available for the 1,000 Ontarians living with this devastating disease.

On June 20, supporters of the ALS Society of Canada will rally together for the virtual Walk to End ALS in communities across Ontario. The Walk to End ALS helps raise the funds that enable people living with ALS to access services that lessen the burden of the disease and that ensure a strong pipeline of funding for Canadian ALS research.

I want to extend my best wishes to the ALS community across Ontario participating in the June ALS Awareness Month and the Walk to End ALS. I encourage everyone to learn more about the disease and to sign up for the walk at www.als.ca or walktoendals.ca.

Gas theft

Mr. Deepak Anand: Last week, my heart ached at reading the newspaper headline: 66-year-old senselessly killed during gas-and-dash theft in Drumbo, near Woodstock. Stephen Madigan was a loving father, grandfather and an outstanding citizen.

Should this incident have happened in BC or Alberta, this manslaughter could have been avoided. These provinces have gone ahead and made the prepayment of gas mandatory and have since then seen practically zero cases of gas-and-dash thefts.

My Bill 231, passed with unanimous consent in the House, is advocating to make prepayment of gas mandatory so we can avoid similar tragedies going forward. We have received support letters from the police services, PAO, police services boards, Rabba Fine Foods, the Ontario Convenience Stores Association, Husky, Hasty Market, 7-Eleven and many more.

This incident unfortunately shows us that this is not an issue just in the urban areas. This is an issue that affects all Ontarians. So I want to say thank you to all of my colleagues for your support.

Let me repeat: The death of Stephen Madigan was completely avoidable. The time for action is now. I implore all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep working together to ensure we bring safety and security for fellow Ontarians. Let’s make prepayment a reality and say goodbye to such headlines forever.

Members’ expenditures

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I beg to inform the House that we have laid upon the table the individual members’ expenditures for the fiscal year 2020-21.

Sikh genocide

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Brampton East has informed me that he has a point of order he wishes to raise, and I’m pleased to recognize him.

Mr. Gurratan Singh: I rise today to call for the unanimous consent of this House to observe a moment of silence to remember the countless Sikhs who were murdered by the Indian government in the June 1984 Sikh genocide. Lest we forget.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member from Brampton East is seeking the unanimous consent of the House for a moment’s silence to observe and remember the victims of the Sikh genocide from 1984. Agreed? Agreed.

Members will please rise.

The House observed a moment’s silence.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you very much. Members will please take their seats.

Question Period

Education

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, good morning. My first question this morning is for the Premier. It’s been two weeks since this government announced opening plans and forgot to mention anything about schools. For over a year this government has ignored and dismissed the concerns about the necessity to get our schools safely open. It’s clear, based on media reports, that this government had no plan—except for polling—and they have no plan now.

My question to the Premier is: Is it really the case that this Premier is making decisions about the mental, emotional and physical well-being of our children based on political polling instead of pediatric advice?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: We were concentrating on students and their educational success even before the pandemic started, but as the pandemic raged on through the province of Ontario through the first wave, we worked very hard to ensure that kids could return to school last September in a safe fashion. I’m quite proud of what our educators were able to accomplish, and not only just the educators—while I have the floor, I’ll say a big thank you to Ms. Greco and to Ms. Shapiro, teachers for my two daughters—but the maintenance workers, the principals and the administrative staff, who have made our schools some of the safest schools in the province of Ontario through September.

Let’s remember that it was the opposition who did not want our kids to return to in-person school in September, Mr. Speaker. We knew parents did. That’s why we had the option for in-school as well as online. It’s been very successful. We will continue to put the needs of students first.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: We all know that Ontario is the only province in Canada without kids in school, and there’s a reason for that. It’s not an accident. This government walked us right into the third wave, ignoring the advice of experts. They attacked critics who were working so hard to demand safer schools for our kids. In fact, as we just found out the other day, they were claiming that there was no spread of COVID-19 in schools, even though all along they knew that wasn’t the case.

Kids in the classroom were supposed to come first. That’s what was supposed to be the priority. Does the Premier accept any responsibility whatsoever for the fact that children in Ontario are the only kids in the entire country who are not back in their classrooms?

Hon. Paul Calandra: The Leader of the Opposition did not want kids to return to school in-person at all. Mr. Speaker, you will recall last September the leader of the official opposition was not in favour of a return to in-person learning for our students. We knew that that had to happen, and that’s why we made serious investments in ventilation. That’s why we ensured that there was additional staffing and there were additional maintenance workers to ensure that the schools were safe. That was done remarkably well.

It’s not a hallmark of the government. We put the resources in place, yes, but it is the hard-working teachers, it’s the hard-working staff, it’s the boards of education who worked very closely with us, worked with the Chief Medical Officer of Health of the province of Ontario, worked with the medical officers of health in the different 34 public health units and made sure that a return to school was safe. And it has gone very well.

Of course, the opposition did not want that. They’re never ones to want to listen to what parents want, certainly never putting the needs of students first. We will continue to do that, not only because it’s the right thing to do now, it’s the right thing to do for the future of the province of Ontario.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: This Premier has never actually done what was the right thing for the people of Ontario during COVID. He never had a plan for kids in the classroom. Clearly, two weeks ago, there was no plan. He announced a reopening and left families and kids and teachers hanging. There was no mention of schools. It was clear when he spent the last year claiming that schools are safe when, in fact, they knew that that wasn’t the case. It was clear when the science table was literally screaming recommendations at the government about reopening too fast, which they just simply ignored and created this brutal third wave that we’re now dealing with.

All of the experts—experts from SickKids, experts from CHEO, from the Canadian Paediatric Society—say this: Kids “have suffered immeasurably over the course of the pandemic.... The benefits of a few weeks in the classroom cannot be overstated.” That’s what the experts say.

Why doesn’t the Premier care about the emotional, physical and mental well-being of the children of Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Is the Leader of the Opposition really, truly listening to herself when she asks these questions? I’m a father of two kids who are both in school, who are both learning online. Is she really suggesting that I, as a father, and those of my colleagues here who are also parents who have kids in school somehow don’t care about children? It is preposterous, Mr. Speaker.

What we have done since the beginning is ensure that the resources were in place to get our kids into school safely. We know it has been difficult—not only difficult for all Ontarians and difficult for our small, medium and large job creators but extremely difficult for our youngest Ontarians. They are the future of the province of Ontario. They are the ones who will be sitting in this place when we are long gone, paying for the decisions that we have made today. That’s why we ensured that our schools are safe.

That’s why we ensured last September that they went in school, even though it was the Leader of the Opposition who suggested that they should stay home. When the Chief Medical Officer of Health was saying, “Send them to school,” we said yes. They said no. We won’t listen to them, Mr. Speaker.

Education

Ms. Andrea Horwath: My next question is for the Premier, but I think it’s pretty clear that actions speak louder than words in terms of this government’s behaviour.

It has been clear for over a year what was needed in our schools, what was needed to be done to keep our classrooms safe: bring class sizes down to 15; get rid of the backlog of repairs that have been hanging over since the Liberals were in charge; vaccination of teachers and education workers and widespread testing in our schools; working with education workers.

And instead, what did we get? The Ford government cut the education budget. The Ford government attacked teachers and education workers. The Ford government failed to conduct any effective testing that would have given them information about the spread of COVID-19 in schools, and of course, they claimed that there was no spread even though they knew that wasn’t the case.

So my question is, will this Premier answer my question? Will he admit that his failures have led to the fact that Ontario is now the only province in our country that doesn’t have kids back in the classroom?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Government House leader to reply.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I think the people of the province of Ontario will recall quite clearly that it was the Leader of the Opposition who in September asked us not to send kids back to school, and we said, “No, we have to have that done.” We knew how important it was to the youngest Ontarians that they continue their education but also to give options for parents so that they could learn at home if that’s what they felt they needed to do. We put that in place. We ensured that there were repairs to ventilation.

We ensured that there were thousands of additional staff brought into boards across the province—thousands of additional teachers, hundreds of additional maintenance workers—to keep our schools safe and to ensure that there was safety in the schools. We brought in testing for students. We have done all of that so that our kids could continue learning. We understand how important it is and how difficult this has been. That’s why we’ve put additional resources in for mental health. We’ll continue to do that, and we will ensure that kids have the best-quality education possible.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Well, tragically, the schools and the kids not being in the classroom are only the latest example of this Premier and this government’s failure when it comes to the response to COVID-19. As we know, they ignored warnings that kept kids out of the classroom. They ignored warnings that led to 4,000 seniors losing their lives in long-term care. They ignored warnings in February that marched us right into this brutal third wave that we’ve all been trying to deal with. Every step of the way, they’ve ignored the warnings, they’ve denied the facts and they have put politics ahead of people.

Why was this government focused on “protecting the king” instead of protecting the people of Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: I think that question really speaks for itself, and I think it really underlines why it is that the NDP have never been given the confidence of the people of the province of Ontario to form a government but one disastrous time, a disaster that led the former NDP Premier to abandon his own party for another party.

What this Premier has done and what this government has done is focus on the people of the province of Ontario, keeping them safe, Mr. Speaker, right from day one. Even before the pandemic hit, we were working on long-term care, we were working on health care, increasing health care capacity. We knew that we had to bring in more staff. We knew that we needed more ICU capacity. We were working on that in advance of the pandemic, despite the fact that every single time that opposition voted against those investments, Mr. Speaker.

What it is, is you have to plan before, during and after. We have done that, and when we come out of this pandemic, we will lead the nation in economic growth like we did before the pandemic.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The final supplementary.

Ms. Andrea Horwath: Speaker, teachers and parents and kids are exhausted. They’re stressed out. There has been year after year of unpredictability, of disruption and uncertainty in our classrooms. Teachers, education workers and parents have all gone above and beyond during this pandemic. All of them deserve a government that prioritizes the mental, physical and emotional well-being of the children of this province, but that’s not what they’ve seen from their government. Why?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Speaker, since day one, since we were elected, we knew that we had to make some serious changes in the province of Ontario. That is why the people of the province of Ontario entrusted us to make those changes.

When it comes to education, we started right away. We looked at those math scores and we knew we had to do something different. We looked at the science scores and we knew we had to do something different. That’s why we started putting resources into those areas, so that we could improve outcomes for our students, and we saw that. We knew that, as the pandemic was hitting, we had to take action to get our kids back into class as soon as possible, but we couldn’t do that without making the investments that, unfortunately, the previous Liberal government, supported by the NDP during the minority, did not do, Mr. Speaker.

Interjection.

Hon. Paul Calandra: The House leader for the Liberals might find it funny that his government never invested in schools. He might find it funny that they closed 600 schools. The parents of the province of Ontario don’t find the failures of the Del Duca/Wynne government funny, Mr. Speaker. We will get the job done for the future generations of Ontarians who will be sitting in this chamber making decisions for—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Ottawa South, come to order.

The next question.

Education

Mr. Jamie West: My question is to the Premier. Speaker, with only three weeks left in the school year, Sudbury’s parents, students and educators are anxiously waiting for the Conservative government to make a decision about reopening schools. Experts like the Council of Ontario Medical Officers of Health and the Hospital for Sick Children are supporting in-person learning:

“Public Health Sudbury & Districts is prepared to support schools to transition as quickly as possible to in-person learning and to lead effective case and contact management should COVID-19 cases emerge in our schools in the month of June.”

My question, through you, to the Premier is: Will the Premier follow expert advice? Will he listen to parents, students and educators and reopen Sudbury schools to in-person learning for the remainder of the school year?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, we will continue to do what is best for the people of the province of Ontario and put our students first. That’s what we have been doing since day one, not only during the pandemic but—as I just said, when we were elected, we knew we had to do better for our students. That is why we set out to increase scores in math and sciences and make those important investments in rebuilding some of the schools. I just talked about the 600 schools that the previous Del Duca/Wynne Liberal government closed in the province of Ontario. We started to make changes.

When it comes to the pandemic, I can assure the member opposite and the people of Sudbury that what we will do is put students first. We will put the health and safety of our students first, Mr. Speaker. That has been our priority since September. Since September, when the NDP were calling us to leave kids home, we chose to go down a different path: keep our schools safe; hire thousands of additional teachers; hire additional people to keep our schools clean and safe for students. That will remain our number one priority.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Mr. Jamie West: Back to the Premier: Just to clarify, Speaker, what we stood for was having students come back, not in crowded buses, not in crowded classrooms, and with full ventilation. That’s where they dropped the ball on health and safety for our children.

Mr. McIntyre is a music teacher. He’s been juggling a hybrid model of learning for his music class. He told me that trying to teach a classroom of in-class music students while also trying to instruct online learners is almost impossible. The in-class students progressed quickly. They received instant feedback every day and became excited and actively engaged in music. Meanwhile, the distanced learners quickly became disengaged. They often wouldn’t submit assignments. They developed a negative attitude towards music and towards education in general.

The Premier has a quarter of a year, a three-month window, to ensure that all education workers in Ontario have their vaccinations before school resumes in September. Mr. Speaker, my question through you to the Premier is: Will the Premier prioritize first and second dose vaccines so that education workers are completely vaccinated before September 2021?

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member opposite would know that we already have. But here is the problem with the NDP—you hear it in that question again, Mr. Speaker. The NDP, of course, always look short-term.

I’m not going to say that we’re going to fix the entire education system in three months, because we started in 2018.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

Hon. Paul Calandra: You don’t just do it in two months, like the NDP are suggesting. We knew that when we got into office back in 2018—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The Leader of the Opposition, come to order.

Hon. Paul Calandra: —we had to make serious investments because our students were falling behind.

I don’t want my children suffering because of the decisions or lack of decision-making by governments that I’m a part of. That’s why we made these important investments. That’s why we’ve done everything we could to keep kids in school since September. It was them who voted against it. They voted against those investments. They wanted students at home. We wanted better for our students and we made sure the resources were there.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Just a friendly reminder to the House: When you ignore the Speaker’s call to order, the Speaker has no alternative but to move to warnings.

Next question.

Road safety

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Earlier this week, the Moving Ontarians More Safely Act passed third reading in the Legislature by a near unanimous vote. This bill, also known as the MOMS Act, aims to combat stunt driving and other aggressive forms of driving on our roads.

This legislation also introduces measures to protect vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and highway workers; improve truck safety; and strengthen provincial oversight of the towing sector. Could the Minister of Transportation please tell us why the MOMS Act is so important to get into place now?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Thank you to the member from Oakville for the question. There’s always more we can do when it comes to road safety, and the MOMS Act is a big step forward.

This past year, with fewer cars on the road, we’ve seen an uptick in dangerous driving. Earlier this week, a 23-year-old driver in York region was caught driving more than 202 kilometres an hour in a 60 zone and charged with stunt driving. Needless to say, instances like this are unacceptable, and I am so relieved that no one was harmed.

The MOMS Act will send a strong message that those who don’t play by the rules will face tough consequences. Our goal is to protect law-abiding road users while cracking down on bad actors, and I’m confident that this bill is a means to do that.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): And the supplementary question?

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Thank you to the minister for your response.

Mr. Speaker, it’s safe to assume that each one of us in the Legislature has also seen similar instances of stunt driving. This has been right across the province. It’s extremely alarming. Could the minister tell us why she’s confident this legislation is the right one to protect road safety?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: Thank you again to the member for the question. The MOMS Act is not a one-and-done deal for road safety, but it’s a big step of many more to come. Protecting road users is a priority for all of us here in this chamber, and I am very pleased with the support this bill has received.

When we brought the MOMS Act forward, OPP Commissioner Thomas Carrique said that the MOMS Act is an “important step” towards addressing the serious road safety issues created by aggressive drivers.

Our partners at the Toronto Police Service also support the MOMS Act. Superintendent Scott Baptist acknowledged that it creates “a series of escalating sanctions for aggressive driving behaviours,” focusing “the most significant repercussions on those most deserving.”

Mr. Speaker, the work to keep our roads safe does not end here. Road safety is an ongoing priority because the costs of unsafe and aggressive driving in Ontario are just too high.

Indigenous programs and services

Mr. Sol Mamakwa: Good morning, Speaker. My question is to the Premier.

Remarks in Oji-Cree.

Speaker, the discovery in Kamloops has caused great pain, but especially for residential school survivors and their families. Garnet Angeconeb is an elder from Lac Seul First Nation and a survivor of the Pelican Lake Residential School near Sioux Lookout. He said: “What’s happened in Kamloops really is a validation of the things that we—as survivors—have been saying for many, many years.” When we spoke, he said that the survivors and their families need support.

Mr. Speaker, the discovery has opened many wounds. Healing initiatives and mental health resources are needed. What is Ontario doing to help support survivors and their families?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: The member has been raising a number of very important considerations all week, things I know that the Minister of Indigenous Affairs has been seized with and working on with our partners in Indigenous communities across the province of Ontario.

I think it’s also worth mentioning that this is something that has been so important to Minister Rickford, long before he even became the Minister of Indigenous Affairs, having worked as a nurse in many of the communities across the north.

But the member is right: Work has to be done. It’s not just about what we saw in Kamloops, as horrifically tragic as that is. I think what we have to make sure that we do—and I know that this member will not stop in his pursuit of making sure that his community and Indigenous communities across the province of Ontario and Canada finally get the resources they need, not only from the provincial government but from the federal government. We have to make sure that this isn’t just a temporary thing that we see, because it’s highlighted in news stories across the country, but it is something that we once and for all take action on.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary? The member for Toronto Centre.

Ms. Suze Morrison: My question is back to the Premier. Speaker, we’ve heard commitments from this government this week, but we need an actual commitment to funding the programs and services and, like my colleague said, the healing supports that are needed in the communities right now. We need more than hollow words, broken promises, lowered flags and symbolic gestures.

Frankly, Speaker, I don’t know how we’re supposed to believe the words of this government when they say that they’re going to fund and support Indigenous communities through this tragic moment, when we’ve watched them decimate and cut. We watched them obliterate the Indigenous Culture Fund. We watched them take an Indigenous curriculum that was supposed to be embedded in Ontario’s curriculum about the history of residential schools, and they downsized that curriculum and made it elective. This government says that they will work to never forget, but their actions say otherwise.

Will this government reverse its decisions, make the teaching of residential schools mandatory at the elementary and secondary levels, and restore the Indigenous Culture Fund?

Hon. Paul Calandra: Of course, Mr. Speaker, as I said, there is obviously a tremendous amount of work that still needs to be done on this.

If I’m not mistaken, the federal government will be outlining its response to the murdered and missing Indigenous women’s report. I know that Minister Dunlop did so last week, but there is a tremendous amount of work.

I’m not going to satisfy the member opposite or any of the Indigenous communities that are watching in a 60-second response in the chamber, Mr. Speaker. More work has to be done.

But it’s not just about what we saw in Kamloops, as horrifically tragic as that is. The members are raising points about finally addressing more than just that issue. It’s about economic health of communities. It’s about the spiritual healing of communities. It’s about working together to find out what works best for our First Nations communities. Minister Rickford has been doing that since day one.

Does more work have to be done? Absolutely. Have we made good progress? Yes. Out of this tragedy, have we highlighted across the country that more still has to be done? Yes, and we will get it done, but I can’t do it in a 60-second answer in the House.

Education funding

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Speaker, as this is my first opportunity to rise since the devastating news in Kamloops, BC, I do want to extend my condolences to the Indigenous communities. The generational trauma that has been caused—it’s time for Canada and Ontario to do better, and that’s all I will say.

My question is to the Premier. This government has failed to create the conditions for reopening schools safely. Not only has this government shut down the economy and schools, but their lack of leadership and planning has resulted in a protracted debate about opening schools or patios, which should not be the case. Schools and patios are closed because this government has not planned and invested in the reopening. We need to see action. We need accelerated investments in ventilation, in teacher vaccination and for our education workers as well. We need PPE and a robust testing and contact-tracing program to manage the outbreaks.

Speaker, teachers have heard every excuse under the sun as to why the Premier has not done his homework. It’s time that the Premier does his homework and gets schools open safely now.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, she talked about doing better on ventilation. We’ve done that. She talked about hiring additional teachers. We’ve done that. She talked about hiring additional staff to ensure that our schools are safe. We have done that. That is why, in September, we were able to have our kids go back to school for in-person learning.

But we also knew we had to give parents choice, and that choice was to be in class or online. We made the investments to make sure that parents had access to both. That is what we have been doing since day one, since this pandemic hit. We will not stop putting the emphasis on our kids, on the next generation of leaders. That is our priority, and we will continue to make students our priority.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Ms. Mitzie Hunter: Speaker, this government fails to understand that not all households have the same resources to support students learning at home. Words are not enough; actions are what matters, and your actions are to cut $1.6 billion in priorities and partnerships funding, as the FAO reported just this week. It shows the government’s real intention.

In hot spots, schools are in need of repairs and not set up to deal with an airborne virus that is mostly transmitted indoors and in close proximity. There are real COVID learning gaps that are being developed, mental health risks for schools being closed, and things are not set up for a safe return to schools either now or in September.

Speaker, the government has not made sure that schools are safe for in-person learning now, and it is cutting funding for the next school year that should be invested in our schools. Does the Premier believe that this pandemic has had a worse effect on hot spot students and, if so, what is his plan to ensure that there are no learning gaps and that students in all areas of our province receive the supports they deserve, so there’s no—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: It’s a strange question coming from a member who used to be the Minister of Education. Her question outlines why that member was such a failure as a Minister of Education. She says that we weren’t prepared. She said that the schools weren’t prepared to deal with the pandemic—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): I’m going to caution the government House leader on his language and ask him to conclude his answer.

Hon. Paul Calandra: Mr. Speaker, the question was that schools were not prepared in the province of Ontario for the pandemic. We began making those changes in 2018. The question was that our educators weren’t prepared. We started making those changes in 2018.

I am very sorry that the Liberals find offence in the fact that their time in government was such a failure, but that is why the people of the province of Ontario turned to this government to fix all of the damage that that party did. I am sorry that they find that offensive, but the people of Ontario wanted change, and that’s why they turned to us—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Order.

The member for Oakville.

Border security

Mr. Stephen Crawford: We know that stricter border measures stop the spread of COVID-19. This reality is backed up by hard evidence and data. All the cases we have in Ontario can be traced back to an origin outside of Ontario.

Only a few weeks ago, the first cases of the B1617 variant, first seen in India, were detected here in Ontario. Can the Solicitor General tell the House more about how this variant has spread and why it’s important to keep restrictions on our borders?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you to the member from Oakville for raising this. I think it is really important that we continue to talk about what we’re protecting our friends and neighbours from. We have consistently called on the federal government to enhance our safeguards at the border. Many of the new variants spread quickly. The Indian variant, known as B1617 variant, has spread quickly. From May 12 to May 19, Public Health Ontario said the number of known positive cases of the B1617—

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Waterloo, come to order. The government House leader, come to order. Member for Northumberland–Peterborough South, come to order.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Yes, you.

Solicitor General?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you, Speaker. From May 12 through to May 19, Public Health Ontario said that the number of known positive cases of the B1617 coronavirus variant grew from 45 to 260. It is almost certainly even higher today. From a few cases, the B1617 spreads in a very short time frame. We are making progress in Ontario, protecting Ontarians, but we need the federal government to step up and do their job as well.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Member for Oakville, supplementary.

Mr. Stephen Crawford: We are all aware of how the original COVID-19 virus got here. It was through travel, obviously. Yet some would have us believe that a few infected travellers is nothing to worry about, suggesting that travel accounts for less than 2% of the cases here in Ontario. Yet we know that every variant of concern that has filled our ICUs has come from outside Ontario. Back to the minister: Can she explain how other variants are of concern and why stricter travel rules are necessary now to protect the people of Ontario?

Hon. Sylvia Jones: Thank you again to the member from Oakville. We know that mobility is a factor in the spread of COVID. That is why we need to act now. On February 26, the North Bay Parry Sound unit found 12 positive COVID-19 cases from the B1351 variant first discovered in South Africa. As of May 31, we have a total of 949 cases in Ontario. It arrived here through travel and then spread.

Once again, on February 8, Ontario confirmed Canada’s first case of the P1, also known as the Brazilian variant, in Toronto. The case was linked to international travel from Brazil. As of May 31, we have a total of 2,867. On December 16, Ontario confirmed Canada’s first cases of the B117, known as the UK variant, in two individuals from Toronto. As of May 31, we have a total of 126,707 cases. It’s travelling into Ontario, and the federal government—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The next question.

Arts and cultural funding

Ms. Catherine Fife: My question is to the Premier. Yesterday, theatre-goers were excited to see work nearing completion on a new outdoor performance space for the Stratford Festival. They and other arts organizations have invested millions towards a safe reopening. Like so many others in their sector, last year the Stratford Festival cancelled in-person programming and pivoted to online engagements. This year, they and others, like the Waterloo jazz festival and Drayton theatre, are ready to return to safe in-person performances.

We all need this to happen. What they need from this government is a thoughtful, individualized approach to reopening performance venues, including outdoor spaces. For example, they need permission to rehearse outside. “You can’t start up in step 2 having never rehearsed in step 1”: This is advice from Mitch Marcus from the consortium.

After the year the performing arts have been through, the frustration is real and there are no provisions for rehearsals in the new road map, which doesn’t make it a very effective road map for the performing arts community. Will the Premier work with the Stratford Festival and the performing arts community to ensure that they can open safely, sooner than later?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I appreciate the member opposite’s question. It’s one that we’ve been working on throughout the last 15 months with this sector, particularly with the Stratford and Shaw festivals, as well as many other festivals across the province that have either been shuttered or that have—we were able to get some concessions in the previous framework for them to be able to do online and virtual performances.

Having said that, there’s a great inconsistency with the member opposite and her leader. Her leader is telling us to shut more things down. She’s telling us to open more things up. We spend a lot of time with the Minister of Health—she and I spend a great deal of time with these sectors—in addition to the jobs and recovery committee at cabinet, with which we have an audience with Dr. David Williams. At this time, they have said, at the health table, that we aren’t prepared at that moment.

We are right now in pre-step 1. We would like to get to step 1, and the quicker we get into step 1, the quicker we get into 2 and the quicker we get to see these performance art centres back up and running. That’s something I would love to see happen almost immediately, Mr. Speaker.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question?

Ms. Catherine Fife: We’ve asked for some common sense. Pre-pandemic, the Stratford Festival attracted 500,000 tourists annually, directly employed 100 people and created an additional 2,400 full-time jobs. If we want to talk about restarting the economy, it needs to be inclusive of these arts organizations and businesses like the Stratford Festival. They can’t just turn the lights on and call action without having the ability to prepare for that opening. They are simply asking for clarity and the rules of engagement, if you will, so that they can plan for a successful season, but they are running out of time.

They also want clear communication from the government in order for their season to move forward, rehearsing outdoors and a flexible model to maximize capacity limits safely for audiences.

Can the government commit today to these reasonable requests and establish regulatory fairness for the performing arts sector?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: As I mentioned in the previous answer, the ministry is working with health in order to provide those guidelines. We have established a table to try to make sure that we have a theatre strategy moving forward—the Stratford Festival obviously being part of that, as well as the Shaw, as well as others.

But again, I speak to the inconsistencies of the NDP. At the beginning of this question period, the leader wanted to shut more things down and prolong the lockdown. And now, this member opposite is trying to open more things up.

We continue to work with the sector. In fact, we increased funding to the sector by $25 million, and we gave the Stratford Festival $1.8 million. They said, “We are extremely grateful to the Ontario government for being so responsive to our needs. The Stratford Festival had to cancel its entire 2020 season, which was to bring in more than $70 million in revenue.... Thank you, Minister MacLeod, for supporting the arts and artists in this province. We desperately need the stability this new funding offers.”

Addiction services

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Good morning. My question is for the Premier. COVID-19 is a public health crisis that has required extraordinary government action, but Ontario has another public health crisis that is crying out for urgent government action. A recent report found that 2,050 people died of opioid overdoses between March and December 2020. That’s an increase of 75% from the exact same time period of the year before. Speaker, that is 75% more deaths. But instead of taking action, the Premier has refused to remove the cap on overdose prevention sites that he imposed in 2018.

I have a simple question, Speaker: Will the Premier act now to save lives by removing the cap on the overdose prevention sites?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Minister of Health.

Hon. Christine Elliott: Thank you very much to the member for the question. The opioid situation is very serious in Ontario. It has been for some years, but it certainly has been exacerbated by the pandemic. We are taking action. We have currently funded 16 consumption and treatment services sites, and there are other municipalities that are still applying to become consumption and treatment services sites. There’s still room for others to apply.

In addition to that, we’ve allocated up to $31.3 million for 21 CTS sites across the province of Ontario, and as part of our plan, our Roadmap to Wellness, our comprehensive mental health and addictions plan that was launched just before COVID struck Ontario, we have invested over $525 million more in funding, including $4 million for nurse practitioners for detox centres, $8 million for addictions day and evening care and $3.5 million for in-home withdrawal care and vans that can move across areas that are difficult to serve.

There’s more that I can say in the supplemental, but it’s something that we do take very seriously and are working on right now.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question?

Mr. Mike Schreiner: Everything is not okay. Public health experts are calling for action. The Ontario Construction Consortium just came out calling for action because 30% of the deaths are construction workers. Yesterday, Ontario northern mayors came out calling for action on the opioid crisis.

Just last week, I met with the drug strategy team in my riding, one of those 16 cities that has an overdose prevention site. They said, “Mike, can you convince the government to remove the cap so other communities can have the kinds of harm reduction services we have in Guelph?”

With all due respect to the minister, I’m asking the government: Will they remove the cap on overdose prevention sites and put more money into harm reduction services to help save lives?

Hon. Christine Elliott: Again, this is a very serious situation.

I can advise the member that there’s no need to remove the cap because there are still municipalities that are applying. We’ve funded 16. There are 21 that can be funded. Municipalities can apply and make their case to have more consumption and treatment services centres. But it’s not just about that. I heard you speak about harm reduction. We need to have investments made across the entire continuity of care for people to make sure that we can have the consumption and treatment services sites. We need more RAAM clinics. We need more safe places for people to live for residential treatment.

There’s a lot of work that has yet to be done. We are working on a plan now and we will be releasing the details of it very soon.

Energy rates

Mr. Stephen Crawford: My question is for the Associate Minister of Small Business and Red Tape Reduction.

We know that the government has been focused on helping small businesses save on utilities during this pandemic through supports like the property tax and energy cost rebate grants.

Hard-working families in my community continue to look for ways to ease pressure on their bottom lines, just like our businesses try to make ends meet.

Could the minister tell me how this government is helping families and individuals save on the cost of energy through the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: Thank you to the member from Oakville for his leadership during these times and for supporting small businesses across his community.

Our government is developing a regulatory approach that will require electricity and natural gas utilities across the province to implement the Green Button standard. The Green Button is a tool that will help Ontarians reduce their costs by finding new ways to lower their energy use. It also enables a market that customers can choose from to make better decisions and choices about their energy usage.

When consumers have access to real-time energy consumption data, they can identify and take immediate, simple steps to reduce their energy usage. This data can also help consumers find and opt for long-term, energy-efficiency solutions.

Ontarians have been asking for help to reduce their energy use and costs for some time, and this will help deliver in that goal.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Stephen Crawford: Helping hard-working families find ways to save money makes life easier during this difficult period, and empowering families to better monitor their energy usage will be of benefit long after this pandemic is gone.

Can the minister tell the House how the Supporting Recovery and Competitiveness Act will help businesses across this province?

Hon. Prabmeet Singh Sarkaria: We are going to continue to work on cutting red tape and reducing unnecessary burdens across the province to make sure Ontario remains competitive. To date, we have helped reduce their costs by over $330 million by focusing on regulatory modernization. We are modernizing regulations so that it’s easier for businesses to understand and comply with regulations.

This pandemic has also proven that technology can be used to save time and money. This also applies to the not-for-profit sector. Virtual meetings have been a great example of this. That’s why our government is continuing, through this act, to allow the not-for-profit sector and corporations to conduct virtual meetings indefinitely.

We’re making government services faster and bringing more services online to improve the user experience for many of these consumers and businesses.

Currently, heavy truck, school bus and farm vehicle owners must renew their licence plate stickers at a ServiceOntario location. We are going to make the changes to ensure that they can do this online. We’ll continue to do whatever we can to support small businesses during this recovery.

Arts and culture sector

Ms. Jill Andrew: COVID hit, and artists, performers, art workers were dealt a devastating blow. Jobs were lost; venues shuttered.

My question is to the Premier. Roadmap to Reopen leaves live arts behind. I am begging this government to accept the clear and evidence-based demands of the #FairnessForArtsON campaign and many other arts organizations, like TAPA, MANO, PASO and CARFAC Ontario, demanding regulatory fairness on par with our good friends in film and television and sports.

My question to the Premier is this: Will you allow artists and all performers to rehearse as soon as the stay-at-home order is lifted so they can prepare for reopening? Tarragon Theatre needs to rehearse. Will you reinstate livestreaming and recording in venues as soon as the stay-at-home order is lifted? And will you outline clear percentages-based capacities indoors and distance-based capacities outdoors so we can get our artists, our performers, our arts workers back in, building art, creating art and helping their mental health? Please—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you. To reply, the Minister of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: I want to thank the member opposite for the great question. Obviously, I have a very loud voice around the table and I really echo her comments. I really do feel that parity is important. But at the same time, I recognize we’re in a public health crisis, and we take our guidance from the Chief Medical Officer of Health and our health care professionals.

I know that the members opposite don’t like taking the advice from the Chief Medical Officer of Health and they have undermined him consistently, but I do sit around a table with him frequently during the week, along with the Minister of Health, and we want to make sure—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s must come to order.

The minister of heritage, please conclude your response.

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: —when we reopen, we reopen for good. That’s why the quicker we get to step 1, the quicker we get to step 2, and the quicker we can get our artists back up and running. I fully support the arts sector in this province—

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Toronto–St. Paul’s is warned.

Supplementary question? The member for St. Catharines.

Mrs. Jennifer (Jennie) Stevens: My question is to the Minister of Health. I have recently talked to several performing arts communities in St. Catharines, and they are asking a simple question. The government’s reopening plan has made allowances for film, television and high-performing athletes to prepare; however, it has left out the protocols for live performers to rehearse. It feels like the arts were unfairly forgotten again. There is a lot at risk in Niagara. They cannot magically appear on stage. They need to start rehearsing today.

Organizations in my community, like Kate Leathers of Carousel Players and Rebecca Walsh at the Essential Collective Theatre, have said that without rehearsals now, they are at risk of cancelling their summer season. This will be months of actors, musicians and their techs not working. In Niagara, that means losing months of ancillary benefits to restaurants and small businesses. The arts sector is central to a safe jump-start to our tourist economy.

Minister, will you let performing arts rehearse now, like their counterparts in the film industry, so they can be ready to open on day one of stage 2?

Hon. Lisa MacLeod: There’s nothing more I would love than to see our performing arts up and running right here, right now, but we are in a global pandemic. I am part of a cabinet and I am part of a team that takes the advice of the Chief Medical Officer of Health very seriously.

I’m shocked that they never stand up when we invest an extra $25 million into our iconic arts institutions or when we invested an additional $62 million into iconic institutions that include the ROM and the AGO. They don’t stand up when we increase the budget to the Ontario Arts Council, but, I’ll tell you what, 15 months in, they’re finally asking questions about the arts, the culture. I’m waiting for sport and I’m also waiting for heritage, and I would love to have a question on tourism, because I’ve got to tell you, the hardest-hit sectors are the sectors that are part of this ministry. I find it galling that they stand up only today, 15 months too late.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The official opposition will come to order.

Interjections.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The minister of heritage and sport, come to order. The member for St. Catharines, come to order. Member for Ottawa South, come to order.

The next question.

Highway construction

Mr. Stephen Blais: My question is for the Premier. Highway 427 is an essential project that was committed to and started by the previous Liberal government, under the leadership of Steven Del Duca. This government only needed to maintain that progress. Highway 427 was meant to make lives better, create economic growth and unlock potential.

But, lo and behold, under the leadership of this government, the highway is almost a year behind schedule. The Premier claims to be open for business, but he can’t even open a highway. Moreover, he has kept residents in the dark, leaving the people of Vaughan, Caledon and Brampton to hear about the status of the highway through media reports.

Why all the secrecy, Mr. Speaker? Will the Premier come clean on when the people of York and Peel can expect this already-finished Highway 427 to open?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To reply, the Minister of Transportation.

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: This is a commercial matter between the government and the contractor. It’s appropriate that Infrastructure Ontario handle disputes on a commercial level. As this dispute has recently been escalated to litigation, I don’t have anything further to say on it at this time.

That said, our government is committed to delivering on ambitious infrastructure plans, which include billions of dollars in transit and highways. Ontario is investing more than $21 billion in funding over the next 10 years, including approximately $2.6 billion in 2021-22 to expand and repair highways and bridges.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary question.

Mr. Stephen Blais: We all read the minister’s love letter to the Premier in the Star this morning, but unfortunately, Highway 427 is still sitting there empty. The previous Liberal government already invested in this project and had shovels in the ground three years—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Sorry; I’m going to caution the member on his language. That wasn’t appropriate. Please conclude your question.

Mr. Stephen Blais: Highway 427 is already a year behind schedule, but the Premier and the minister are unwilling to deliver this piece of infrastructure to the families of Vaughan, even though the highway is finished. It’s just sitting there, waiting to be used, Mr. Speaker. Families are spending a longer time getting home. All the while, the highway is just sitting there.

Interjection.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The member for Hamilton Mountain, come to order.

Mr. Stephen Blais: When will the government finally open this important highway? When can the hard-working families of Vaughan expect their commute times to be reduced?

Hon. Caroline Mulroney: As I said, this is a commercial matter and it’s subject to litigation, so it would be inappropriate for me to comment at this time.

But I am heartened to hear the member opposite talk about the importance of investing in highways. He’s an opponent of Highway 413 and doing the important work that we need to do to evaluate whether or not it’s a project worth moving forward with. I’m glad to hear that he has had a change of heart and thinks that we should be looking at investing in highways.

Child care

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: Child care workers in this province are at a breaking point. That’s the take-away from a recent survey of almost 2,000 child care workers by the Ontario Coalition for Better Child Care and the Association of Early Childhood Educators Ontario. More than half of the workers reported decreased job satisfaction during the pandemic, and 89% of workers reported an increase in job-related stress.

Child care workers have gone above and beyond for children and their parents during the pandemic, but they are tired of being asked to do so much for so little. They’re tired of being ignored by this government.

My question to the Premier is, will you finally listen to child care workers and make the investments needed to raise their wages?

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): To respond, the government House leader.

Hon. Paul Calandra: I would certainly agree with the member opposite that child care workers have been so important throughout this pandemic, Mr. Speaker, especially when you consider that they have also been on the front lines of ensuring that our essential workers could continue to do their work. Whether it was being available for our nurses, doctors, PSWs, they have done tremendous work, and I want to thank them for all of that work.

We’ve made a significant number of investments in the sector. The member knows, and I’m sure she would agree, that we certainly inherited a horrific system from the Liberals, just another part of the disastrous record of the previous Liberal government that saw daycare rates increase to some of the highest, if not the highest, in Canada.

There is a lot of work left to be done in this sector, because we know how important it is to families of the province of Ontario that they have choice, whether they want their kids in an organized daycare or if they want other options. That’s why we’ve brought in a tax credit.

I understand that after the federal government brought in their first promise back in I think it was 1993, with respect to child care, they brought another one forward. It seems to be like a Liberal calling card: Make a promise every single year and then never do it.

But we’ll work with them on this one, Mr. Speaker. We’ll see what they have to say. We’ll see if they can actually accomplish anything. We know that the previous Liberal government, four administrations in 15 years, did nothing in this sector, but we certainly will.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): The supplementary question.

Ms. Bhutila Karpoche: All we hear from this government is thank yous, but thank yous don’t pay the bill. “Thank you” is not a mental health service. Yes, this government did inherit a sector that was in bad shape, but they have actually made it worse.

Improving wages and working conditions is important to addressing staff retention issues, something that has plagued the child care sector for decades, and the pandemic made things worse. Almost half of the child care workers in the survey said they have considered leaving the sector permanently. If we don’t pay child care workers the wages they deserve, we will never be able to recruit and retain the thousands of additional workers needed to build a truly affordable and universal child care system.

Again to the Premier: Will you work with the child care sector to improve working conditions, and will you commit to implementing a wage grid that ensures no child care worker is underpaid?

Hon. Paul Calandra: We’ve been working with the sector right from the beginning, but especially during the pandemic, because we knew how important they were to ensuring that the essential workers could continue to do their jobs, and they have.

I’m not going to stop thanking them just because the opposition is tired of hearing thanks, Mr. Speaker. We will continue to do that, because what they have done has been heroic and has helped us not only continue our economy in those essential areas. But more importantly, they have helped us ensure that essential workers, like doctors, nurses and PSWs, could continue to do the job that has led us to getting over nine million vaccines into people’s arms, that has seen us bring that curve down. We have a lot to be thankful for.

There is a federal program, and again, I share the member opposite’s worry as such. The federal Liberals have promised child care investments in the province of Ontario since 1993. I was 23 then. The member opposite probably wasn’t even born when the first promise was made. The previous Liberal government was a catastrophe and did nothing on it, but we will continue to work with them and anyone who wants to make serious investments—

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Thank you.

The next question.

COVID-19 response

Mr. Roman Baber: To the government House leader: Today, we expect the province to announce if it will open schools. Yesterday, I asked the Minister of Education why schools aren’t open despite near-unanimous advice, including advice from the chief medical officer, to open the schools.

So, I’d like to follow up with the House leader on why the schools aren’t open. Specifically, was it appropriate for the government House leader to dismiss and make a mockery of the fact that more than 70% of kids are anxious and depressed, and joke in the context of admissions for teens attempting suicide tripling in the city of Hamilton?

Hon. Paul Calandra: The gall of this member—I’ve just said in this House on a number of occasions that I have two children. I don’t need any lessons from this member on what it takes to ensure that your kids have the ability to get through a pandemic.

The only person in this House today making a mockery of what we have faced as a province is the member for York Centre. He gets up in his place every single day. Yesterday, we heard the member suggest that it doesn’t matter how he voted, that that doesn’t matter at all. The fact that he voted to ensure the safety of the people of Ontario in March, April, May, June, July, September, October, November and December—he said none of that matters. Those votes don’t matter. I think the people in his community might find that outrageous to learn, that when he gets up and votes in this chamber, it doesn’t matter, because he’s a flip-flopper. But for me and for us, it does matter.

The Speaker (Hon. Ted Arnott): Supplementary?

Mr. Roman Baber: To the Minister of Finance: Last week, I heard from an aesthetician that she has no place to borrow anymore and that the only thing that’s left for her to do is sell equipment. I heard from a constituent in the travel industry that he’s close to being ruined. I heard from a friend in the entertainment industry that they cannot make ends meet anymore and they don’t qualify for assistance. I heard from members of the beauty industry of multiple suicides. I’m hearing from various professional services that they’re down 50% to 60% and that there are no more means to borrow.

People are losing their homes, their marriages, their lives; main street in Ontario is gone, because this government failed to protect long-term care and added 200 ICU beds in 15 months and not one ICU nurse. But none of these businesses are responsible for any spread. It’s not COVID that killed these business; it’s this government that’s responsible for this catastrophe because of the Premier’s quest for approval ratings.

My question to the minister: Please don’t talk about how important small business is and the various programs that don’t work. Please save it and tell us, will you open Ontario?

Hon. Paul Calandra: We will do so when it is safe to do so. Unlike the member opposite, I, the members on this side of the House and the members on the opposite side of the House—with the exception of that member—care about the health and safety of the people of the province of Ontario. We may disagree often, but collectively, we have worked very hard to ensure the safety and security of the province.

The member’s previous question highlighted all that he is about. He’s more worried